Folding-machine.



P. BBLLAN. FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNE 5, 1911.

Patented May 20, 1913.

3 SEEETS-SHEBT 1.

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Ik Vnzorg COLUMBIA PLANDCIRAFH CO., WASHINGTON. D. C.

P. BELLAN.

FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5, 1911.

Patented May 20, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOuRnPH cc.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

P. BELLAN.

FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLIoATIoN FILED JUNE 5, 1911.

Patented May 20, 1913 3 SHBETS-SHEET 3.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO..WASH|NGTON', D. c.

PETER BELLAN, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FOLDING-MACHINE.

Speccaton of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2,0, 1913.

Application filed .Tune 5, 1911. Serial No. 631,255.

.To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, PETER BELLAN, a citizen of the United States, and a.resident of the city of Chicago,county of Cook, and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding-Machines,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to folding machines particularly adaptedfor foldingcotton batl ting for use in mattresses, comforts,rpads,

etc., lalthough it is to be understood that my invention is not limitedto such use but may be embodied in a machine for folding cloth or .forother similar uses.

The objects of my invention are to provide l a machine of thecharactermentioned which shall neatly, accurately and quickly fold thematerial into several laps as desired, and further to provide a machineas stated which may be adjusted'to make the several folds or .laps ofany desired length.

Further objects of my invention are' to provide in a machine kof theclass under consideration improved mechanism for driving the feedmechanism and for reciprocating vthe carriage.

The invention willbe best understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings forming a part of this specification, and in which,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a folding machine embodying my invention,Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same, Fig. 3, a side elevation of themachine showing the side opposite to that shown in Fig. 2, Fig, anenlarged section of the machine taken on line -a' of Fig. 1, Fig. 5, anenlarged section of the machine taken on line g/-g/ of Fig. 1, Fig. 6,an enlarged section of the 1nachine taken on line -e of Fig. 1, and,Fig. 7 is a section on the line w-fw of Fig. 1.

The preferred form of construction as illustrated in the drawingscomprises a suitable frame 1 provided with suitable tracks 2. A carriage3 is provided with supporting rollers 4 which run on tracks 2 thuspermitting longitudinal reciprocations of said carriage. Sprocket chains5 and 6 are mounted in frame 1 adjacent each side of carriage 3 and passover sprocket wheels 7 and 8 which are adjustably mounted on said frameas shown. Each of said sprocket chains carries a pin Q'engaging avertical slot 10 in the side of carriage 3 as shown. Sprocket wheels 8aremounted .upon shafts 11 and'llr which are extended slightly from thesides of frame l and are connected by means of sprocket chains 12 withthe main drive shaft 13 of the machine. Shaft 13 is provided with atight and loose pulley 14 and 15 for operating the machine. By thisconstruction it will be observed, that' rupon rotation of shaft 13,sprocket chains 5 and 6 will be caused to travel over sprocket wheels 7and 8 and pins 9 operating in slots 10 in the sides of car# riage 3 willcause said carriage to reciprocate .on frame l a distance equal to theoperative length of said sprocket chain. When it is desired to changethe length of reciprocation of the carriage, this may be done byadjusting the sprocket wheels 7 and S toward and away from eachotheryand short'- ening or lengthening sprocket chains 5'and` 6 to correspond.

Carriage 3 carries feed aprons 16 arranged over rollers 17 as'showninFig. 5. The feed aprons 16 are arrangedto feed a strip or web of cottonbatting or similar material to discharging rollers 18 as indicated inFig. 5. The shaft ofjone of the rollers 17 is extended laterallyfromcarriage 3 and provided with a universal joint 19. A pinion 20 isconnectedwith the universal joint 19 and oppositely disposed rack bars21 and 22 are arranged above and below the path of travel of saidpinion. The upper end 23 of the pinion shaft is extended as shown andrides upon a guide 24 mountedat kthe side of frame 1. Guide 24 isprovided with flexi-v ble deflected spring ends 25 and the arrangementis such that aspinion 20 reciprocates with carriage 3 it is held in meshwith one of the rack bars while traveling in one direction and isshifted andheld in mesh with the other rack bar while traveling in theopposite direction. It is obvious that the guides 24 must besubstantially the same in lengthas the distance traveled by thecarriage, hence when the travel of the carriage is adjusted the lengthof the guide must be correspondingly changed. To this end I provide theguides with brackets 25 which are detachably secured to the frame, andby equipping the device with a numberof interchangeable guides ofdifferent lengths,

the guides may be changed to correspond toy y i of adjacent rollers ofthe two aprons are connected by intermeshing pinions 17. By thisarrangement it will be observed that when carriage 3 reciprocates,aprons 16 and discharge rollers 18 will be driven continuously in thedirections indicated by the arrows in Fig. 5 and that when the carriagepauses at the ends of its reciprocations, said aprons and dischargingrollers will pause to correspond, thus preventing feed of the materialto be folded during the pause at the ends of the reciprocations of thecarriage.

An apron 27 is mounted in a frame 28 projecting upwardly from frame 1and passes over rollers 29 and, 30 as indicated. The shaft 31 of roller30 is extended laterally and provided with a sprocket, wheel 32connected with a sprocket wheel 33 on shaft 11 by means of asprocketchain 34C, thus providing a means for driving apron 27. A roller 35 ismounted in operative relation with apron 27 so as to direct materialthereon. Roller 35 is driven by means of sprocket chains 36 connectingwith shaft 13. By this arrangement it will be observed, that a strip ofcotton batting or similar material fed to roller 35 and apron 27 will bedirected onto aprons 16 and thus discharged downwardly from rollers 18.rllhe web discharging from rollers 18 will be nicely laid upon a tableor other suitable support by the reciprocations of carriage 3. Owing tothe fact that the discharge of the web will be discontinued during thepause of the carriage at each end of its reciprocations, a nice andeXact fold will be made.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form for carryingmy invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modificationwithout departing from the spirit of my invention. I, therefore, do notwish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to availmyself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope ofthe appended claims.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. Afolding machine comprising a frame; a carriage mounted toreciprocate on said frame; means for reciprocating said carriage;feeding means arranged on said carriage; a pinion carried by saidcarriage and connected to drive said feeding means; two rack barsarranged in operative relation with said pinion; and means for causingsaid pinion to mesh with one of said rack bars during its movement inone direction and with the other of said rack bars during its movementin the other direction, substantially as described.

2. A folding machine comprising a frame, a carriage mounted toreciprocate on said frame, means for reciprocating said carriage,feeding means arranged on said carriage, a pinion carried by saidcarriage and connected to drive said feeding means, two rack barsarranged in operative relation with said pinion, a guide arrangedadjacent the rack bars for holding the said pinion into engagement withsaid rack bars, said guide being provided with flexible ends adapted toshift said pinion from one rack bar to the 'other at the reversal ofmovement of the carriage, substantially as described.

means; two rack bars arranged in operative relation with said pinion;and means for causing said pinion to mesh with one of said rack barsduring its movement in one direction and with the other of said rackbars during its movement in the other direction, substantially asdescribed.

1. A folding machine comprising a frame; a carriage mounted toreciprocate on said frame; means for reciprocating said carriage;downwardly discharging rollers on said carriage; feed aprons arranged tofeed to said rollers; a driving shaft connected to operate said rollersand aprons; a pinion having a universal joint connection with saiddriving shaft; oppositely disposed rack bars arranged above and belowthe path of travel of said pinion and at a distance apart slightlygreater than the outside diameter of said pinion; and a guide for saidpinion arranged to hold said pinion in mesh with one of said rack barsduring its movement in one direction and with the other of said rackbars during its movement in the other direction, substantially asdescribed.

5. A folding machine comprising a frame; a carriage mounted toreciprocate on said frame; means for reciprocating said carriage;downwardly discharging rollers on said carriage; feed aprons arranged tofeed to said rollers; a drive shaft connected to operate said rollersand aprons; a pinion having a universal joint connection with said driveshaft; oppositely disposed rack bars arranged above and below the pathof i travel of said pinion and at a distance apart slightly greater thanthe outside diameter of said pinion, and a guide for said pinionarranged to hold said pinion in mesh with one of said rack bars duringits movement in one direction and with the other of said rack barsduring its movement in the other direction, said guide being providedwith flexible ends adapted to shift said pinion from one rack bar to theother at each end of its reciprocation, substantially as described.

6. A folding machine comprising a frame;

a lcarriage mounted to reciprocate on said frame, said carriage beingprovided with a vertical slot; a sprocket chain mounted at one side ofsaid carriage; a pin on said chain engaging said slot; means for drivingsaid chain; downwardly discharging rollers on said carriage; feed apronsarranged to feed to said rollers; a drive shaft connected to operatesaid rollers and aprons, a vpinion having a universal joint connectionwith said drive shaft, oppositely disposed rack bars arranged above andbelow the path of travel of said pinion and at a distance apart slightlygreater than the outside diameter of said pinion; and a guide for saidpinion arranged to hold said pinion in mesh with one of said rack barsduring its movement in one direction and 'with the other of said rackbars during its movement in the other direction, substantially asdescribed.

7 A folding machine comprising a frame; a carriage mounted toreciprocate on said frame, said carriage being provided with a verticalslot; a sprocket chain mounted at one side of said carriage; a pin onsaid chain engaging said slot; means for driving said chain; downwardlydischarging rollers on said carriage; feed aprons arranged to feed tosaid rollers; a drive shaft connected to operate said rollers andaprons; a pinion having a universal joint connection with said driveshaft; oppositely disposed rack bars arranged above and below the pathof travel of said pinion and at a distance apart slightly greater thanthe outside diameter of said pinion; and a guide for said pinionarranged to hold said pinion in mesh with one of said rack bars duringits movement in one direction and with the other of said rack vbarsduring its movement in the other direction, said guide being providedwith flexible ends adapted to shift said pinion from one rack bar to theother at each end of its reciprocation, substantially as described.

8. A folding machine comprising a frame; a carriage mounted toreciprocate horizontally on said frame, said carriage being providedwith a vertical slot in each of its sides; a sprocket chain arranged ateach side of and parallel to the path of travel of said carriage; pinson said chains engaging said slots; means for driving said chains at thesame speed; downwardly discharging rollers on said carriage; `feedaprons arranged to feed to said rollers; a driving shaft connectedtooperate said rollers and aprons; apinion having a universal jointconnection with said drive shaft; oppositely disposed rack bars arrangedabove and below the path of travel of said pinion and at a distanceapart slightly greater than the outside diameter of said pinion; and aguide for said pinion arranged to hold said pinion in mesh with one ofsaid rack bars during its movement in one direction `and with the otherof said rack bars during its movement in the other direction,substantially as described. f j

9. A folding machine comprising a frame, a carriage mounted toreciprocate horizontally on said frame, means for reciprocating saidcarriage, feed rollers on said carriage, a pinion on the shaft of one ofsaidrollers, a universal joint in said shaft between the roller and thepinion; said shaft being ex- Atended beyond said pinion; oppositelydisposed rack bars arranged above and below the path of travel of saidpinion and at va distance apart slightly greater than the outsidediameter of said pinion, and a guide engaging the extended end of saidshaft for holding said pinion kin mesh with one of said rack bars duringits movement in one direction and with the other of said rack'barsduring its movementin the other direction, substantially as described.

10. A folding` machine comprising a frame, a carriage mounted toreciprocate horizontally on said frame; means for reciprocating saidcarriage, feed rollers on said carriage, a pinion on the shaft of onelof said rollers, auniversal joint Vin said shaft between the roller andthe pinion, said shaft being extended beyond said pinion, oppositelydisposed rack bars arranged above and below the path of travel ofsaidpinion and at a distance apart slightly greater than the outsidediameter of said pinion, a guide arranged adjacentthe rack bars forholding the said pinion in engageioo ment with the said rack bars, saidguide being provided with flexible ends adapted to shift said pinionfrom one rack bar to the other at the reversal of movement of thecarriage; substantially as described. Y

11. A folding machine comprising a frame, a carriage mounted toreciprocate on said frame; means for regulatingy the length of saidreciprocations, feeding means arranged on said carriage, a pinioncarried by said carriage and connected to drive said feeding means, apair of rack bars arranged in operative relation with said pinion, aguide adapted to be arranged adjacent the rack bars for holding the saidpinion in engagement with one of said rack bars during its movement inone direction and' with the other of said rack bars during itsmovement-k in the reverse direction, said guide being detachably mountedupon the machine, substantially as described.

12. A folding machine comprising a frame,

a carriage mounted to reciprocate on said erative relation with saidpinion, a y guide arranged adjacent the rack bars for holding Intestimony whereof I have signed my the said pinion into engagement withone name to Athis speclcation 1n the presence ofY 10 of said rack bars,said guide being detachtwo subscribing Wltnesses.

ably mounted on the machine and the ends of said guide being flexible toshift said PETER BELLAN pinion from one rack bar to the other atVitnesses:

the reversal of movement of the carriage, HELEN F. LILLIS,

substantially as described. JOSHUA R. H. POTTS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

